“Nocturnal Animals” (2016)
“Enjoy the absurdity of our world”.
Famously known worldwide as an iconic fashion designer, to date Tom Ford has directed two feature length films, both of which were Oscar nominated and both films had me hooked on my initial first watch. Whilst I’d argue that his debut, 2009’s A Single Man, is his more accomplished work and the superior to his follow up here, Nocturnal Animals cannot come highly recommended enough.
My spoiler free review follows below and I plan to re-release my thoughts on his debut film too but, should you wish to read both one after the other, here’s a link to my original blog article too:
“Do you ever feel your life turning into something you never intended?”
Based on Austin Wright’s novel “Tony and Susan” and adapted for the screen by director Ford, there is much to admire in Nocturnal Animals and a film I instantly adored on first viewing and a love that has grown stronger with every subsequent re-watch since. As with his debut film, Ford has helmed, in strong collaboration with stars both in front of and behind the camera, a truly absorbing, intriguing and stylish film. Kudos in all directions behind the scenes: for Director of Photography Seamus McGarvey and three returnees from Ford’s previous film in the shape of Editor Joan Sobel, Costume Designer Arianne Phillips and Composer Abel Korzeniowski, whose musical composition particularly stands out as a beautiful piece of accompanying music that in it’s grandest moments is eerily reminiscent of the haunting quality of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for Basic Instinct in 1992 and similar in tone and feel to his previous musical work on A Single Man.
In front of the camera are some incredible performances that garnered just a single Oscar nomination in 2017 but which should have gathered many more, particularly Amy Adams in her central performance as an angst and regret filled Art Gallery Owner and for Jake Gyllenhaal’s dual supporting role which is both thunderous and heart breaking at times. The single Oscar nomination fell to Michael Shannon for his immense portrayal of a gruff local detective with nothing left to lose, as he chases down three of the most cowardly and reprehensible characters to have hit the cinema screen in some time.
What particularly impresses me on every re-watch of this remarkable and sublime film is the weaving of the three distinct narratives that run concurrently through the film, as we have a present day depiction seamlessly blending into a marriage and relationship of 19 years previously and of a visceral representation of the novel that lends itself to the name of the film, Nocturnal Animals. Each separate strand of the narrative is starkly different and distinct from each other yet is brilliantly edited by Joan Sobel and realised through the excellence of the vision of both Director Ford and the lens of his Director of Photography, Seamus McGarvey. Where the present day is cold, distant and sterile, the 19 year previous moment in time is far warmer, vibrant and bright yet both of these time periods are juxtaposed against the tense, grittier and violent telling of the story contained within the novel which is exclusively read (often shot from above and in extreme close up) by “Susan Morrow” (Amy Adams).
A fabulously wealthy Art Gallery Owner living in stunning opulence overlooking Los Angeles, Morrow is clearly depressed and caught in a melancholic funk that she even questions herself with a pointed rhetorical question of “What right do I have to be unhappy? I have everything”, but whilst she has every material advantage in her life she describes the art displayed in her gallery as “junk” and “I don’t care about the art” but this betrays much deeper issues, that of a cold and distant marriage to “Hutton Morrow” (Armie Hammer), of her dream life simply not fulfilling her and deep regrets on her past that re-surface when sent the Nocturnal Animals novel by her ex husband “Edward Sheffield” (Jake Gyllenhaal).
Adams dominates the present day narrative of the film with her snooty, spoiled and somewhat vacuous character Morrow particularly well as, for all her character flaws, Morrow draws sympathy from the audience as the present day period unravels. Fearful of comparisons with her Mother “Anne Sutton” (Laura Linney) she is quite literally an empty shell full of angst and unhappiness and quite apart from the self satisfied art world she is surrounded by and typified by her friends “Alessia Holt” (Andrea Riseborough) and “Carlos Holt” (Michael Sheen). It is to Carlos who exemplifies the hyper reality they enjoy in their exalted social standing with his pertinent comment of “Enjoy the absurdity of our world. It’s a lot less painful than the real world”. However Susan Morrow cannot enjoy the absurdity of the art world or indeed escape the vacuous and painful nature of her own real world and escapes into the fictional world created by her ex husband.
Nocturnal Animals the novel is dedicated to Susan and sent to her by ex husband Edward Sheffield for many reasons, it was his nickname for her during their marriage 19 years ago, it’s a proclamation that he is indeed a fiction writer after all these years and despite her cold and unsupportive manner during their marriage (which narrative unravels during one of the three strands of the story) and of the violent criminals depicted within the novel. The realisation of the novel itself is perhaps the largest of the three narrative strands and is noir in nature as well as viscerally violent and often particularly distasteful with the opening ten minute segment incredibly tense and often particularly difficult to watch and comprehend as “Tony Hastings” (Jake Gyllenhaal in his second role of the film), “Laura Hastings” (Isla Fisher) and their daughter “India Hastings” (Ellie Bamber) are rammed off the road by three violent and reprehensible thugs headed by “Ray Marcus” (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
It is skin crawling and utterly terrifying. Edward Sheffield always reinforced to Susan during their marriage that he could only write from a personal perspective and so it’s no surprise that Susan “reads” her ex husband in the role of Tony in the novel and it’s also evident that Laura Hastings is clearly a stand in for the real life Susan but what is abundantly clear in the aftermath of the horrific car chase is the no nonsense determination and approach of local Detective “Bobby Andes” (Michael Shannon) to catch those responsible and see justice prevail in any way necessary. Perma smoking despite admittedly dying of cancer, Michael Shannon’s Oscar nominated performance as the unorthodox, straight talking and somewhat reckless Detective Bobby Andes is but one of a number of superb performances throughout the three story lines of Nocturnal Animals. As already noted, Amy Adams excels in the film’s central role and is ably supported by the cameo roles also previously noted but Jake Gyllenhaal’s dual roles of an optimistic and forward thinking writer and devastated husband and father in the novel story line are so vastly different and so excellently realised in yet another impressive and worthy performance in Gyllenhaal’s ever expanding cannon of great, really great, cinematic work.
Nocturnal Animals is a film I cannot recommend highly enough and a film that often stays with me long after the final credits have rolled. Tom Ford has again created an ultra stylish and ultra stylised film that is crisp and clear on screen and with an engaging and unique confluence of ideas and stories that always pleases on repeat viewings. With the three concurrent stories often merging across a single motif and then back again into a previous narrative it could, in the wrong hands, jar and alienate it’s audience. But it never does and with the stylish visuals and stellar performances all combine to produce an outstanding and intriguingly unique film.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 180 blog articles (with 350+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
